The new crown virus is still spreading in Japan, and the 17-day Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games closed safely on the evening of August 8, which is a victory for human sportsmanship and deserves full recognition. The twists and turns of the epidemic gave birth to the first Olympic Games without spectators in history, and the opening and closing ceremonies of the plan made major adjustments, and the evaluation of all parties can be described as a matter of opinion. The theme of the closing ceremony was "World we share". The colorful and diverse world of one set the tone for the closing ceremony. Although there are many criticisms of the undertaker Dentsu Company, it is good at using commercial advertising to explain the theme and using small incisions to mobilize emotions, which still makes people see the sophistication of its operation methods, and there is no shortage of remarkable strokes.
Compared with the opening ceremony, the impressive thing about the closing ceremony is that under the premise of still simplicity, it makes full use of various elements of Japanese pop culture, classic culture and traditional culture, combines east and west, integrates ancient and modern, and skillfully arranges music, songs, dances, costumes, patterns, lighting effects and other elements in the closing ceremony, repeatedly presenting a visual and auditory climax that is amazing.
As soon as you open the scene, you will realize the principle of simplicity that is consistent with the opening ceremony. There were no huge props on the field, and no flying man hanging from the sky. After 20 actresses of the Takarazuka Opera Company sang the Japanese national anthem in colorful and well-patterned kimonos, flag bearers from all over the world, led by volunteers, gradually entered and lined up a colorful closed loop along the circular empty field in the middle of the lawn. Volunteers also lined up in a circle facing the flag bearers. The pattern of the wide costumes they wear is very meaningful: the blue and white checkered elements on the opening ceremony Edo craftsmen's costumes are transformed into black and white checks in the manga style, and exaggerated patterns dot them: two short-armed shirts of about half of each side, two hands tightly pulled together. When the group of volunteers lined up in a circle, the hand-in-hand motifs were also closely linked together to form a symbol of a human chain. The double closed loop of flag bearers and volunteers seems to reproduce the emblem of the Tokyo Olympic Games on the ground, which also alludes to the theme of the closing ceremony, "World we share".
At this time, the video footage of the athletes from all over the world working hard to play back the wonderful replay appeared. The video uses advertising film techniques to mix and cut, condensing the colorful pictures of the contestants' success, frustration, unity and fraternity, and the latest Olympic concept of "faster, higher, stronger and more united" at the end of the film. If the 1964 Tokyo Olympics made color television popular in Japan and ended the golden age of Japanese film films, then the Olympic Games without audiences on the spot made video elements equally important as the scene, opening up a precedent for online Olympic broadcasting that combined virtual and real.
At the same time, representatives of athletes from all over the world waving small flags gathered on the lawn, and they exchanged freely and interacted with the performances on the field. The colorful light effects on the circular empty field are the icing on the cake. The climax of this arrangement is that when the lights turn dim, the contestants turn on their mobile phones, and we see on the screen that the "stars on the ground" are lit up and lifted off, rotating to form a white dazzling Olympic ring above the venue. This is the most visually stunning moment. Echoing the emblem in the air corresponding to the wooden five rings of the opening ceremony, the emblem composed of players on the ground at the closing ceremony symbolizes the lift-off of the five rings, becoming the finishing touch of a more united colorful world. Afterwards, it was known that this picture was an enhanced effect of digital synthesis, and the scene was "black under the lights", and this amazing moment could only be seen on the big screen. However, considering that this year's audience is online, such an "augmented reality" "combination of virtual and real" treatment is a meaningful innovation.
The closing ceremony performance with the circular empty field as the stage blended music, songs, dances, costumes, patterns, colors and other elements into one, creating a fantasy evening like the "Tang Feast" in Chen Kaige's "Legend of the Demon Cat". Among them, the selection of music, songs, and dances is very exquisite, using enough representative highlights of Japanese culture, combining east and west, integrating ancient and modern, and invisibly achieving the purpose of enhancing the spread and appeal of Japanese culture.
Simulating the leisure activities and street dance performances of young and energetic citizens in Tokyo Parks seems simple, but it continues the civilian atmosphere of the Edo-cho people at the opening ceremony, reminding Japan that it is transforming from traditional handicraft to cultural creation, and at the same time sending the image of a large city to athletes from all over the world who cannot appreciate the daily life of Tokyo citizens under the epidemic situation, healing their inner loneliness.
The passionate performance of the Tokyo Ska-Park Orchestra set off the atmosphere of Tokyo hip-hop. Skar's musical style, which originated in the United States and developed in Jamaica, is very international, and the orchestra is the most famous band of this kind in the world. DJ Matsunaga, who also performs background music for scenes of leisure activities for citizens, is a member of the hip-hop group Creepy Nuts and is recognized as the world's first DJ. They represent Tokyo in dialogue with the world.
The performance also featured "Red Lotus Hua" performed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Katakura High School Wind Orchestra. The opening song of this most popular Japanese animation film "Devil's Blade" in recent years has become the world-famous hottest anime OP, which has made countless young people moved. The beauty of this piece of music is that it not only promotes Japanese anime, but also resonates with the storyline of the fight against the man-eating demon in "Devil's Blade", emphasizing the belief in victory in the fight against the new crown virus.
After a wave of music bombardment, the song came on. Milet, a mysterious singer who speaks English and French and has a wealth of study abroad experience, is an authentic Tokyo beauty with a global citizen-like singing voice. The climax of the closing ceremony was culminated when she wore a flowing, colorful costume and sang Edith Piaf's original chanthel "Hymn of Love" in Japanese and French. This classic song that expresses the love of men and women not only interprets the individualized interpretation of "Together" on this occasion, but also prompts the worldliness of Japanese pop culture, and by the way, it is a good intention to send greetings to the host countries of the modern Olympic Games and the host countries of the next Olympic Games.
The song is followed by a dance. Dances that reflect traditional customs in Japan, such as the Hokkaido Ayinu Wedding Ceremony, the Ryukyu Isa Dance, the Akita Nishima Ninu Bon Dance, and the Gifu Prefectural Gungami Dance, were presented to the audience by video after the marathon award ceremony. These local community dances reflect the diversity of regional cultures and people's sense of community.
Moving to the main venue, dressed in summer kimonos with exquisite colors and ornaments, Tokyo citizens danced the "Tokyo Obon Dance" under the rhythmic "Tokyo Five Rings Sound Head 2020", and players from all over the world, including Chinese athletes, couldn't help but be brought up to the rhythm and danced together. Like icing on the cake, the strange light and shadow transform into various patterns, beginning to be as mysterious as the sand paintings of mandala castles, and in an instant, they changed into the secular ornaments of the Edo period.
During the flag exchange between Tokyo and Paris, Chiko Okamoto, a male soprano singer in strange and elegant costumes, sang "Olympia Hymn" in Greek. The gorgeous and ethereal singing was just right to bring the exchange of flags to a climax, and the empty audience above the podium of the venue used lights to play the red, white and blue colors of the French flag, smoothly transitioning to the 8-minute video of paris, the organizer of the next section. A group of military planes spewed out colorful smoke over Paris, forming the French flag and echoing the Tokyo venue.
In his closing remarks, IOC President Bach said it was an unprecedented Olympics and that sport connected humanity. The performance at the closing ceremony is an image interpretation of this evaluation. At the end, the famous actor Otake Shinobi and six children took the stage to sing the source "Song of the Stars". This is the ending song of the 3D anime of the same name based on the work of Japanese children's literature writer Kenji Miyazawa, "Galactic Railway Night". Children identify the constellations in the firmament, playfully imagine the strange celestial phenomena presented by Scorpio, Orion, Ursa Major, and Andromeda, share the colorful beauty of the world ("World we share"), and finally watch the red lotus-like Olympic flame slowly extinguish, the petals close, and everything returns to silence.
The Tokyo Olympics are over, and the Beijing Winter Olympics are entering a moment of acceleration. In the face of uncertainties, what enlightenment and reference can the stone of his mountain bring us? How to make a plan to deal with various variables at that time? How can we better dialogue with the world and demonstrate our comprehensive soft power? This is what the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games brought us to think.
The author of this article is Wang Zhongyi, Editor-in-Chief of People's China Magazine